The Longest Winter
The Longest Winter in my memory has (hopefully) ended. It was a pretty cold one to boot. It started out with two major life events, the birth of our second daughter, Freya, and a big move to our new home, which I am calling Stately Foley Manor. Stately Foley Manor - lots of space. Hopefully lots of birds. The very first species onto the garden list? Stunning Nutcrackers! Nutcrackers - That'll do. We made a quick trip down to Turku to show off Freya to family for the Father's day weekend, where I got to spend some quality time at Topinoja dump with Caspian Gull and Goshawks. Caspian Gull - 1st Winter a really striking looking, classic bird. Goshawk We spent the first few weeks, as you might imagine, unpacking, renovating where we could and adjusting to Freya's routine, before a host of visitors descended on us for the Christmas. It really was great to have the big house full of guests, and of course, meant we could go birding a fair bit. My old friend Ciarán Smyth and his